City of Naperville Will Welcome Chinese Consul General Zhao Weiping at May 6 Council Meeting

The City of Naperville is pleased to announce that it will welcome the Honorable Zhao Weiping, Consul General, of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago, at the May 6, 2014, City Council meeting. During the meeting, Mayor A. George Pradel will present Zhao with an honorary citizenship from Naperville.

As part of an ongoing cultural outreach initiative by Mayor Pradel's office, Zhao has accepted the invitation to visit Naperville from Bill Liu, Naperville's Chairman of Chinese Community Outreach. Zhao has been the Consul General for Chicago's consular district since 2013.

The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago's consular district covers nine states in the Midwest, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where there are more than 300,000 Chinese nationals or Chinese Americans and about 50,000 Chinese students. Its mission is to safeguard the legal rights and interests of the Chinese citizens in the consular district, and provide consular services related to passport, visa, notarization and authentication, as well as to promote exchanges and cooperation in between China and the Midwest. This is Zhao's first official visit to Naperville.

"I am extremely excited to welcome Consul General Zhao Weiping to our City and bestow an honorary citizenship upon him," Mayor A. George Pradel said. "By extending our hands in friendship to our brothers and sisters overseas, we develop new opportunities for better cultural understanding and economic development."

Zhao will also speak on the future of Sino-US economic cooperation on May 6 at Sikich LLP, 1415 W. Diehl Road, Ste. 400. The free luncheon event takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the presentation beginning at noon. The event is limited to 50 registrants; if interested in attending, RSVP to mweber@sikich.com by May 4.

For more information on the City of Naperville, visit www.naperville.il.us. Sign up to receive the latest news on the City of Naperville's projects and initiatives via email at www.naperville.il.us/enews.aspx. To sign up for the City's new notification system Naper Notify and receive important emergency and community information via a phone call, text message, email or smartphone app, visit www.napernotify.com.